Oilers name Connor McDavid youngest captain in NHL history

Connor McDavid earned another honor on Wednesday when he was named the youngest captain in NHL history by the Edmonton Oilers at 19 years and 266 days old.

McDavid replaces the injured Andrew Ference, who wore the ‘C’ since Sept. 2013 and will not play again following hip surgery last spring. And if you’re keeping track, Jordan Eberle, Milan Lucic and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins were named as alternates. [restrict]

In 45 games last season McDavid scored 19 times and recorded 51 points. Despite a shoulder injury costing him 36 games, he would finish as a finalist for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

This move was inevitable for the Oilers, and one that’s better done now than have it linger and become and issue of “When’s Connor getting the ‘C’?!”

Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche previously held the title as the youngest captain in the league when he was given the ‘C’ in 2012 at 19 years and 286 days old.

Here’s your updated list of youngest NHL captains:

Connor McDavid – 19 years, 266 days

Gabriel Landeskog – 19 years, 286 days

Sidney Crosby – 19 years, 297 days

Vincent Lecavalier – 19 years, 315 days

Jonathan Toews – 20 years, 80 days

Steve Yzerman – 21 years, 151 days

Jim Schoenfeld – 21 years, 362 days

Oilers head coach Todd McLellan recently got a good look at Connor McDavid the Leader. The young forward wore the ‘C’ for the McLellan-coached Team North America at last month’s World Cup of Hockey. He also led the OHL’s Erie Otters before he was drafted first overall by Edmonton in 2015.

“Connor’s not a cheerleader. He’s not jumping around in the locker room with pompoms,” McLellan said. “He leads by example.” [/restrict]